Zeolites and associated authigenic silicate minerals in tuffaceous rocks of the Big Sandy Formation, Mohave County, Arizona
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Professional Paper↗
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Felsic plutonic rocks and associated mineralization of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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Book↗
Mineral resources of the Rock River Canyon Wilderness Study Area, Alger County, Michigan
A mineral resource evaluation of the Rock River Canyon Wilderness Study Area, Alger County, Mich., was completed in 1975 by personnel of the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The area consists of approximately 22 km 2 in the Hiawatha National Forest. Rocks exposed in the area include sandstone, shaly sandstone, dolomitic sandstone, sandy dolomite, and a minor amount of conglomerate; these rocks range in age from possibly Precambrian to early Middle Ordovician. A minor amount of unconsolidated glacier-transported debris was deposited during Pleistocene time. No deposits of either metallic or nonmetallic minerals were found. Although resources of stone, sand, and gravel exist in the study area, they are considered to have small economic potential; similar materials are readily available and easily accessible in the surrounding region.
Michigan↗
Petrologic and mineral physics database for use with the U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model
We present a petrologic and mineral physics database as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model (NCM). Each of 209 geologic units, 134 of which are currently part of the geologic framework within the NCM, was assigned a mineralogical composition according to generalized classifications with some refinement for specific geologic formations. This report is concerned with the petrology and mineral physics of each geologic unit within the NCM, which control the physical behavior of the solid mineral matrix within the rock. This mineral physics database builds on the work of Abers and Hacker to include 13 minerals specific to continental rock types. We explored the effect of this database on zero-porosity anharmonic P- and S-wave rock velocities and density relative to a well-used empirical study of relations between wavespeeds and density by Brocher. We found that empirical relations between P-wave velocity and S-wave velocity or density do well on average but can differ from mineral physics calculations by up to 15 percent in S-wave velocity and almost 40 percent in density. This is consistent with Brocher’s study where he obtained similar results for in situ measurements and laboratory rock specimens. Additionally, the substantial presence of quartz in many rocks plays a major role in crustal seismic velocities and density due to quartz’s α – β phase transition, which can interfere with these empirical relationships. With increasing depth, quartz P-wave velocity can suddenly jump by 15 percent accompanied by little change in S-wave velocity and a modest decrease in density. Empirical relations based on observed P-wave velocity where P-wave velocity is positively correlated with S-wave velocity and density would then significantly overestimate both S-wave velocity and density.
Open-File Report↗
Identification of kaolins and associated minerals in altered volcanic rocks by infrared spectroscopy
Mid-infrared spectroscopy (2.5-50 /µm) has been extensively used to identify and characterize clays and associated minerals in rocks and soils, with particular emphasis on the 3-, 10-, and 20-/µm regions (Farmer and Russell, 1967; Farmer, 1968; White, 1971; Van der Marel and Beutelspacher, 1976). However, application of mid-infrared spectroscopy in remote-sensing activities has been restricted because the spectral information occurs only as a small perturbation to the emitted radiation from the earth's surface, and much of that which is especially relevant to clays (e.g., the 3.0-µm region) is obscured by atmospheric absorption.
Clays and Clay Minerals↗
Geochemical characteristics of igneous rocks associated with epithermal mineral deposits—A review
Newly synthesized data indicate that the geochemistry of igneous rocks associated with epithermal mineral deposits varies extensively and continuously from subalkaline basaltic to rhyolitic compositions. Trace element and isotopic data for these rocks are consistent with subduction-related magmatism and suggest that the primary source magmas were generated by partial melting of the mantle-wedge above subducting oceanic slabs. Broad geochemical and petrographic diversity of individual igneous rock units associated with epithermal deposits indicate that the associated magmas evolved by open-system processes. Following migration to shallow crustal reservoirs, these magmas evolved by assimilation, recharge, and partial homogenization; these processes contribute to arc magmatism worldwide. Although epithermal deposits with the largest Au and Ag production are associated with felsic to intermediate composition igneous rocks, demonstrable relationships between magmas having any particular composition and epithermal deposit genesis are completely absent because the composition of igneous rock units associated with epithermal deposits ranges from basalt to rhyolite. Consequently, igneous rock compositions do not constitute effective exploration criteria with respect to identification of terranes prospective for epithermal deposit formation. However, the close spatial and temporal association of igneous rocks and epithermal deposits does suggest a mutual genetic relationship. Igneous systems likely contribute heat and some of the fluids and metals involved in epithermal deposit formation. Accordingly, deposit formation requires optimization of source metal contents, appropriate fluid compositions and characteristics, structural features conducive to hydrothermal fluid flow and confinement, and receptive host rocks, but not magmas with special compositional characteristics.
Ore Geology Reviews↗
Mineral potential of altered rocks near Blawn Mountain, Wah Wah Range, Utah
A mineralized area near Blawn Mountain in the southern Wah Wah Range has potential for deposits of lithophile metals, including uranium, tin, molybdenum, and beryllium. An area of iron oxide, alunite, and kaolinite alteration in rhyolite on Blawn Mountain overlaps southward with an area of fluorite, montmorillonite, and illite alteration in rhyolite and breccia near the Staats mine. The area on Blawn Mountain is largely depleted of metals other than iron, but the area near the Staats mine has produced some fluorspar and uranium and has anomalous amounts of tin, molybdenum, and beryllium in altered rock. Topaz rhyolites near the Staats mine and on The Tetons are similar to those in the Thomas Range of Utah, which are associated with deposits of fluorspar, uranium, and beryllium. Unmineralized topaz rhyolite in the Wah Wah Range contains anomalous traces of Be, Ga, Li, Mo, Nb, and Sn. Extensive areas of jasperoid with very low trace metal contents are associated with the areas of mineralization and alteration. The age of alteration and mineralization in the southern Wah Wah Range can De inferred from the age of host rocks. The rhyolite of Blawn Mountain, which is the host for alunite and kaolinite, is dated as 30.7?1.5 m.y. old. The intrusive topaz rhyolite of the Staats mine area, which with its altered breccia zone is the host and probable source of fluorine and lithophile metals, is 19.7?0.8 m.y. old. The overlap of both kaolinite and montmorillonite in altered breccia along the north side of the intrusive topaz rhyolite suggests that all of the alteration and mineralization may be younger than 19.7?0.8 m.y.
Open-File Report↗
Mineral and whole-rock compositions of seawater-dominated hydrothermal alteration at the Arctic volcanogenic massive sulfide prospect, Alaska
The Arctic volcanogenic massive sulfide prospect, located in the Ambler mineral district of northwestern Alaska, includes three types of hydrothermally altered rocks overlying, underlying, and interlayered with semimassive sulfide mineralization. Hydrothermal alteration of wall rocks and deposition of sulfide and gangue minerals were contemporaneous with Late Devonian or Early Mississippian basalt-rhyolite volcanism. Whole-rock analyses of altered rocks surrounding the prospect indicate that strong chemical gradients exist in major and minor oxides and volatiles. These were not homogenized or overprinted by Late Jurassic (?) to Middle Cretaceous greenschist to glaucophane-schist facies metamorphism. Very low alkali contents and moderate to very high contents of Ba, F, and Mg are the major chemical characteristics of the pervasively altered rocks. The strong Mg metasomatism, high Ba contents, and limited extent of altered rocks suggest a rapid influx of relatively cold seawater into a hot hydrothermal vent system. Alteration developed asymmetrically around a linear fissure, suggesting fracture control of ore fluids rather than a point source. Micro-probe analyses of phyllosilicates from the Arctic area indicate two discrete mineral populations. Magnesian chlorite, barian white mica, and barian fiuorphlogopite in hydrothermally altered rocks have compositions distinct from similar minerals (chlorite, phengite, biotite) developed during high-pressure metamorphism in metapelitic and metavolcanic lithologies. These differences in mineral chemistry are the result of differences in protolith composition caused by hydrothermal alteration-metasomatism. Without mineral composition data, the contacts between some alteration assemblages and relatively unaltered metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks with similar mineralogy cannot be determined.
Economic Geology↗
Evidence for large-magnitude, post-Eocene extension in the northern Shoshone Range, Nevada, and its implications for Carlin-type gold deposits in the lower plate of the Roberts Mountains allochthon
The northern Shoshone and Toiyabe Ranges in north-central Nevada expose numerous areas of mineralized Paleozoic rock, including major Carlin-type gold deposits at Pipeline and Cortez. Paleozoic rocks in these areas were previously interpreted to have undergone negligible postmineralization extension and tilting, but here we present new data that suggest major post-Eocene extension along west-dipping normal faults. Tertiary rocks in the northern Shoshone Range crop out in two W-NW–trending belts that locally overlie and intrude highly deformed Lower Paleozoic rocks of the Roberts Mountains allochthon. Tertiary exposures in the more extensive, northern belt were interpreted as subvertical breccia pipes (intrusions), but new field data indicate that these “pipes” consist of a 35.8 Ma densely welded dacitic ash flow tuff (informally named the tuff of Mount Lewis) interbedded with sandstones and coarse volcaniclastic deposits. Both tuff and sedimentary rocks strike N-S and dip 30° to 70° E; the steeply dipping compaction foliation in the tuffs was interpreted as subvertical flow foliation in breccia pipes. The southern belt along Mill Creek, previously mapped as undivided welded tuff, includes the tuff of Cove mine (34.4 Ma) and unit B of the Bates Mountain Tuff (30.6 Ma). These tuffs dip 30° to 50° east, suggesting that their west-dipping contacts with underlying Paleozoic rocks (previously mapped as depositional) are normal faults. Tertiary rocks in both belts were deposited on Paleozoic basement and none appear to be breccia pipes. We infer that their present east tilt is due to extension on west-dipping normal faults. Some of these faults may be the northern strands of middle Miocene (ca. 16 Ma) faults that cut and tilted the 34.0 Ma Caetano caldera ~40° east in the central Shoshone Range (<5 km south of Mill Creek), but further mapping is necessary to trace the faults through the highly deformed Paleozoic rocks that surround the isolated Tertiary outcrops. Significant post-Eocene extensional faulting in the northern Shoshone Range may have important implications for both the structure of the Roberts Mountains allochthon and the exposure of potentially mineralized rocks in its lower plate, both of which were likely east-tilted and repeated by west-dipping faults together with overlying Tertiary rocks.
Nevada↗
Geochemical and modal data for igneous rocks associated with epithermal mineral deposits
The purposes of this report are to (1) present available geochemical and modal data for igneous rocks associated with epithermal mineral deposits and (2) to make those data widely and readily available for subsequent, more in-depth consideration and interpretation. Epithermal precious and base-metal deposits are commonly associated with subduction-related calc-alkaline to alkaline arc magmatism as well as back-arc continental rift magmatism. These deposits form in association with compositionally diverse extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks. Temperature and depth regimes prevailing during deposit formation are highly variable. The deposits form from hydrothermal fluids that range from acidic to near-neutral pH, and they occur in a variety of structural settings. The disparate temperature, pressure, fluid chemistry, and structural controls have resulted in deposits with wide ranging characteristics. Economic geologists have employed these characteristics to develop classification schemes for epithermal deposits and to constrain the important genetic processes responsible for their formation.
Data Series↗
Strata-bound sulfide deposits, wall-rock alteration, and associated tin-bearing minerals in the Carolina slate belt, South Carolina and Georgia
Massive sulfide deposits, gold deposits, and tin-bearing minerals occur in rocks of the Carolina slate belt in South Carolina and adjacent Georgia. The belt of greenschist metamorphic rocks in which the ore deposits occur is mostly Cambrian in age. It is divided into an upper metasedimentary unit and a lower unit of predominantly felsic metavolcanic and metavolcaniclastic rocks. The ore deposits occur in the lower unit chiefly near the contact between the two units. The rocks have been deformed into two maior sets of coaxial folds and at least two minor deformations. Coarse-grained unmetamorphosed Carboniferous, I-type granites, and abundant Triassic-Jurassic diabase dikes cut the slate belt and appear largely unrelated to the ore deposits. Remnants of Cretaceous and younger sedimentary rocks overlie the crystalline rocks near several of the larger mineralized areas.Massive sulfides, largely pyrite, and some polymetallic sulfides occur in mines opened for gold in the nineteenth century. The largest of these in South Carolina are the Haile, Brewer, and Dorn mines. These mines and the Little Mountain and Cedar Creek-Blythewood areas have many similar lithologic characteristics. These are: hydrothermally altered wall-rock consisting of quartz-sericite-kaolinite schist and quartz-sericite schist; abundant aluminous silicates such as kyanite, andalusite, pyrophyllite, and topaz; zones of iron-enriched rocks; and a suite of resistant heavy minerals that includes tin-bearing minerals. Heavy mineral concentrates from alluvium of small streams showed 20,000 ppm tin. Cassiterite and nigerite have been identified.At the Brewer mine, gold has been produced from altered felsic volcanic rocks that contain silicified breccia, massive topaz, abundant pyrite, minor enargite, and probably cassiterite. Massive pyrite and gold have been mined at the Haile mine. In the McCormick-Lincolnton area, a near-surface granitoid pluton is thought to be the source for volcaniclastic rocks that contain polymetallic massive sulfide deposits, gold, and associated deposits of kyanite, barite, and manganese. Tin was found there in heavy mineral concentrates, and rutile occurring with kyanite contains 1,000 ppm tin. At Little Mountain, cassiterite and hematite are present in rocks considered to be metamorphosed hot spring deposits. In the Cedar Creek-Blythewood area, nigerite is present, together with cassiterite, chrysoberyl, and seventeen other heavy minerals in concentrates panned from alluvium in streams draining an area of quartz-sericite-kaolinite schist.The deposition of massive sulfides, gold, and tin minerals is considered to be part of a continuum of volcanic activity that included alteration, deformation, and metamorphism. Altered rocks, which host the ore deposits, result from superimposed processes beginning with alteration syngenetic with the massive sulfides and ending with fracture-controlled alteration.
South Carolina↗
Detailed mineral and chemical relations in two uranium-vanadium ores
Channel samples from two mines on the Colorado Plateau have been studied in detail both mineralogically and chemically. A channel sample from the Mineral Joe No. 1 mine, Montrose County, Colo., extends from unmineralized rock on one side, through a zone of variable mineralization, into only weakly mineralized rock. The unmineralized rock is a fairly clean quartz sand cemented with gypsum and contains only minor amounts of clay minerals. One boundary between unmineralized and mineralized rock is quite sharo and is nearly at right angles to the bedding. Vanadium clay minerals, chiefly mixed layered mica-montmorillonite and chlorite-monmorillonite, are abundant throughout the mineralized zone. Except in the dark "eye" of the channel sample, the vanadium clay minerals are accompanied by hewettite, carnotite, tyuyamunite, and probably unidentified vanadates. In the dark "eye," paramontroseite, pyrite, and marcasite are abundant, and bordered on each side by a zone containing abundant corvusite. No recognizable uranium minerals were seen in the paramontroseite zone although uranium is abundant there. Coaly material is recognizable throughout all of the channel but is most abundant in and near the dark "eye." Detailed chemical studies show a general increase in Fe, Al, U, and V, and a decrease in SO 4 toward the "eye" of the channel. Reducing capacity studies indicate that V(IV) and Fe(II) are present in the clay mineral throughout the channel, but only in and near the "eye" are other V(IV) minerals present (paramontroseite and corvusite). The uranium is sexivalent, although its state of combination is conjectural where it is associated with paramontroseite. Where the ore boundary is sharp, the boundary of introduced trace elements is equally sharp. Textural and chemical relations leave no doubt that the "eye: is a partially oxidized remnant of a former lower-valence ore, and the remainder of the channel is a much more fully oxidized remnant. A channel sample from the Virgin No. 3 mine, Montrose County, Colo., extends from weakly mineralized sandstone on both sides through a strongly mineralized central zone. The weakly mineralized zone is a poorly sorted sandstone with common detrital clay partings; chlorite and mixed layer mica-montmorrillonite are abundant interstitial to the quartz grains. No distinct vanadium or uranium minerals are recognizable, although the clay minerals are vanadium bearing. Euherdral pyrite grains and selenian galena are present but rare. The strongly mineralized rock is separated from the weakly mineralized rock by a narrow transition zone which only apporiximates the bedding planes. It contains abundant vanadium-bearing clay minerals (predominantly chlorite) interstitial to the quartz grains, and apparently replacing them. Paramontroseite is common and is intergrown with the clay minerals. Pyrite and marcasite are present, chiefly in or near the abundant blebs and fragments of carbonaceous material. Selenian galena is rarely present, and generally in or near carbonaceous material. Coffinite is the only uranium mineral idenitified; it is extremely fine grained and was identified only in X-ray diffraction patterns of heavy separates. Distribution of trace elements is not clear; some are consistently high in the strongly mineralized rocks, and some are consistently low. The trace element composition of the unmineralized rock is not known. Chemical studies show a very abrupt rise in the total U, V, and Fe from the weakly mineralized to strongly mineralized rock. Reducing-capacity studies indicate that most of the vanadium is present as V(IV), but some is present as V(V); that iron is present as both Fe(II) and Fe(III), the latter believed to have been present in the primary clays of the unmineralized rock; and that come of the uranium is present as U(VI) in addition to the U(IV) in the coffinite. All evidence points to weak oxidation of an ore once having a somewhat lower valence state. The channel samples from both the Mineral Joe No. 1 mine and the Virgin No. 3 mine are believe to have been essentially identical in mineralogy prior to oxidation by weathering: vanadium was present as V(III) in montroseite and V(IV) in the vanadium clays; uranium was present largely as U(IV) in coffinite and/or uraninite. The Mineral Joe No. 1 mine channel sample is now more fully oxidized. Vanadium clays are unquestionably formed abundantly during the primary mineralization, and they persist with a minimum of alteration during much of the weathering. They suggest that the vanadium is carried as V(IV) in the ore-forming fluids; it seems likely too that the uranium is carried as a U(VI) ion.
Trace Elements Investigations↗
Geophysical, geochemical, and mineralogical data from the Pebble Cu-Au-Mo porphyry deposit area, southwest Alaska: Contributions to assessment techniques for concealed mineral resources
In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey began a multidisciplinary study in southwest Alaska to investigate the setting and detectability of mineral deposits in concealed volcanic and glacial terranes. The study area hosts the world-class Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, and through collaboration with the Pebble Limited Partnership, a range of geophysical and geochemical investigations was carried out in proximity to the deposit. The deposit is almost entirely concealed by tundra, glacial deposits, and post-mineralization volcanic rocks. The discovery of mineral resources beneath cover is becoming more important because most of the mineral resources at the surface have already been discovered. Research is needed to identify ways in which to assess for concealed mineral resources. This report presents the uninterpreted geophysical measurements and geochemical and mineralogical analytical data from samples collected during the summer field seasons from 2007 to 2010, and makes the data available in a single Geographic Information System (GIS) database.
Alaska↗
Gold abundance in igneous rocks; bearing on gold mineralization
Review of quantitative data, restricted range in gold content (rarely more than 10 ppb, generally below 5 ppb), mafic rocks have more, so do early crystallizing minerals, no use in exploration, factors other than concentration determine mineralization; examples
Economic Geology↗
Comparative deformation behavior of minerals in serpentinized ultramafic rock: Application to the slab-mantle interface in subduction zones
The layer-structure minerals serpentine, brucite, and talc are postulated to form in the mantle wedge above a subducting slab as a result of progressive hydration and silica metasomatism. Tectonic mixing at the slab-mantle interface generates serpentinite mélanges that contain blocks of high-pressure (HP) or ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rock derived from the subducting slab. Such serpentinite mélanges may provide a means of exhumation of HP/UHP metamorphic rocks, and may define the lower limit of locked regions on the subduction interface that fail in large earthquakes. We review recently obtained frictional strength data for brucite and talc over the temperature range 25-400°C at 100 MPa effective normal stress and compare them with new data for antigorite. These minerals respond to heating in different ways, causing their frictional strengths to diverge. Water-saturated antigorite strength increases toward the fixed dry value of μ ≈ 0.75-0.80 with heating: μ ≈ 0.50 at 25°C and μ > 0.60 at 400°C. The difference in μ between dry and watersaturated talc gouge also decreases with increasing temperature, but both the dry and watersaturated values of μ are lower at elevated temperatures. For dry talc, μ decreases from 0.35 to 0.25 between 25° and 300°C, whereas for water-saturated talc, μ is approximately 0.20 at 25°C and 0.10-0.15 at elevated temperatures. Weakening of the interlayer bond of talc with heating may be responsible for the overall reduction in its frictional strength. The strength of dry brucite also is fixed at μ = 0.45-0.50, but the water-saturated value of μ decreases from ≈0.30 at 25°C to 0.20-0.25 at 200°-400°C. The water-saturated brucite gouge has extensively recrystallized along the shear surfaces, and its weakening may be attributable to solution-transfer processes.
International Geology Review↗
Mineral and energy resources of the Roswell Resource Area, East-Central New Mexico
The sedimentary formations of the Roswell Resource Area have significant mineral and energy resources. Some of the pre-Pennsylvanian sequences in the Northwestern Shelf of the Permian Basin are oil and gas reservoirs, and Pennsylvanian rocks in Tucumcari Basin are reservoirs of oil and gas as well as source rocks for oil and gas in Triassic rocks. Pre-Permian rocks also contain minor deposits of uranium and vanadium, limestone, and gases. Hydrocarbon reservoirs in Permian rocks include associated gases such as carbon dioxide, helium, and nitrogen. Permian rocks are mineralized adjacent to the Lincoln County porphyry belt, and include deposits of copper, uranium, manganese, iron, polymetallic veins, and Mississippi-Valley-type lead-zinc. Industrial minerals in Permian rocks include fluorite, barite, potash, halite, polyhalite, gypsum, anhydrite, sulfur, limestone, dolomite, brine deposits (iodine and bromine), aggregate (sand), and dimension stone. Doubly terminated quartz crystals, called 'Pecos diamonds' and collected as mineral specimens, occur in Permian rocks along the Pecos River. Mesozoic sedimentary rocks are hosts for copper, uranium, and small quantities of gold-silver-tellurium veins, as well as significant deposits of oil and gas, carbon dioxide, asphalt, coal, and dimension stone. Mesozoic rocks contain limited amounts of limestone, gypsum, petrified wood, and clay. Tertiary rocks host ore deposits commonly associated with intrusive rocks, including platinum-group elements, iron skarns, manganese, uranium and vanadium, molybdenum, polymetallic vein deposits, gold-silver-tellurium veins, and thorium-rare-earth veins. Museum-quality quartz crystals are associated with Tertiary intrusive rocks. Industrial minerals in Tertiary rocks include fluorite, vein- and bedded-barite, caliche, limestone, and aggregate. Tertiary and Quaternary sediments host important placer deposits of gold and titanium, and occurrences of silver and uranium. Important industrial commodities include caliche, limestone and dolomite, and aggregate. Quaternary basalt contains sub-ore-grade uranium, scoria, and clay deposits.
New Mexico↗
An oxygen buffer for some peraluminous granites and metamorphic rocks.
The mineral assemblage biotite-garnet-muscovite-magnetite-quartz and its sub-sets are common in many peraluminous granites, schists and gneisses. If the biotite and garnet are reasonably iron-rich, then the system is a useful buffer for fO2. Available thermochemical data indicate that, in T-fO2 space, the buffer curve is located between the hematite-magnetite curve and the quartz-magnetite-fayalite curve, in a region that previously had no buffer curve applicable to peraluminous rocks. -J.A.Z.
American Mineralogist↗
Chemical analyses of igneous rocks published from 1884 to 1900, with a critical discussion of the character and use of analyses
In the first two or three decades of the last century, when the study of rocks as such was being differentiated from that of minerals and of rock terranes that is, when the science of petrogaphy was in its infancy little attention was paid to their chemical features. It is true that a number had been analyzed, but these were for the most part rocks that were of such a character as to lead the investigator of those early days to consider them as minerals, as was the case with the first described Ihcrzolite and wehrlite. In contradistinction to the individually well-defined minerals, rocks were regarded as merely aggregates of minerals, in presumably fortuitous combinations, and lacking that definiteness or constancy of composition in one mass or in different masses which would justify their chemical study as a whole. As, however, they became more and more the subjects of special research, beginning with the earliest investigations of Cordiera, a knowledge of their chemical composition assumed gradually increasing interest. The great importance of this side of the study of rocks was first clearly recognized by Abich, who pointed out, as early as 1841, the, necessity of a knowledge of their chemical composition for the solution of such problems as their origin, mode of formation, and connection with the interior of the earth, as well as the value of a comparison of their analyses as a proper basis for their classification and nomenclature. To him, therefore, is due the credit, of introducing the chemical composition of rocks as a basis for their classification; though the good influence of this suggestion for their right understanding was largely nullified by the coincident use of the feldspars alone as one of the main factors of classification, an idea which has had a deplorably retarding influence on the development of systematic petrography for many years, and which, even at the present day, holds many systematists firmly in its grasp.
Professional Paper↗